New Telehealth Law Is Changing the Way Vets And Cat Parents Interact with Their Furry Friends
A new law in California law allows for more telehealth options with licensed veterinarians when your pet doesn't require an in-person examination for minor ailments or routine prescriptions. This week Michelle Fern welcomes Dr. Mondrian Contreras from Pumpkin Insurance’s Pet Advisory Board to share more on how this type of technology is helping deliver a positive vet experience to pet owners and their pets, as well as the benefits of pet insurance.
Listen to Episode #231 Now:
BIO:
I am a veterinarian, hospital owner, and entrepreneur. I also love writing children's books. I have combined these talents and skills for the sole purpose of enhancing the quality of life for animals and the people who love them.
As a veterinarian my greatest passion is to provide the highest quality of care for my patients and clients. I love to educate and help owners find solutions to any pet problem, and I provide customized care to each individual family.
I recently wrote my first children’s book, The Incredible Life of Dory, and I have written several magazine articles on pet care in a local magazine. My mission is to educate people on the impact that pets have on our lives and how we can help improve the lives of our pets, and writing books and articles is one way I can make this happen.
I love talking to the public about pet healthcare, and I frequently give talks at schools, radio/news/TV stations, and blogs.
I recently founded the VetBros Pet Education Charitable Fund to help save pets that are in need of life-saving procedures. We are on a mission to save 10,000 pets!
Transcript:
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Announcer: You're listening to petliferadio.com.
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Michelle Fern: Hello, feline friends, welcome to Cattitude.
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Michelle Fern: I'm your show host, Michelle Fern.
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Michelle Fern: So, pets, we have to take care of them.
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Michelle Fern: I mean, there are babies, but what are the options?
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Michelle Fern: Go to the vet, hope for the best.
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Michelle Fern: But there's something new, and it's not that new, but it's gone through some changes, and that's telehealth.
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Michelle Fern: Stay tuned, we're gonna talk about some great new changes that are coming with telehealth that makes it a better option than ever before.
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Michelle Fern: So stay tuned, we'll be right back.
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Announcer: Let's Talk Pets on petliferadio.com.
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Michelle Fern: Welcome back, everyone.
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Michelle Fern: I'd like to welcome Dr.
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Michelle Fern: Mondrian Contreras.
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Michelle Fern: He's a veterinarian with the Pumpkin Team, which is Pumpkin Pet Insurance.
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Michelle Fern: So welcome, Dr.
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Michelle Fern: Contreras.
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Michelle Fern: Did I say your name right, or did I botch?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Great, I really appreciate it, Michelle.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Thank you so much for having me.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: I really, really appreciate it.
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Michelle Fern: I'm so happy to have you on.
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Michelle Fern: So telehealth has been around for about, I think about 10 years.
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Michelle Fern: It's something that I still think it's still, you know, a pioneer in the industry.
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Michelle Fern: People know about it, and slowly people are getting used to using it.
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Michelle Fern: Just recently, there was a lot of exciting news with telehealth because California passed this telehealth bill.
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Michelle Fern: So can you tell us about what made that bill so exciting, and then tell us a little bit more about what telehealth is?
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Michelle Fern: Most people out there know, but not everyone.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: No, absolutely.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so this is, from what I understand, I am from Illinois, and so our laws are still, you need a client-patient relationship in order to be able to basically treat a patient.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: It looks like California has actually passed a new law where that basically almost kind of circumvents that, okay?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Where now veterinarians are allowed to basically, from what I read, they're able to actually have a pet owner, you know, whatever, call into whatever software system they use, and they can actually do this virtually.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so they can treat pets basically over Zoom.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so that's been the big, big change that we've seen with California.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so, but basically, again, what telehealth is, is that the American Veterinary Medical Association, the AVMA, really defines telehealth as basically there's like an umbrella term almost, that encompasses all uses of technology to deliver health information, all right?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Education, again, or care to pets and pet owners remotely, basically, okay?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: So then they basically were using these technologies like video conferencing or chat to really help provide a greater access to care.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: So one example, though, of telehealth, and so it can actually be, there's a lot of subsets, all right, actually, of telehealth, all right?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so one of them is actually telemedicine.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And you wanna think of telemedicine as basically a virtual vet visit, okay?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: From the comfort of your own home, where basically veterinarians can educate, follow up with you, or assess your current health for your pet.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Again, another example, though, really is teletriage, okay?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Which is the safe, which is safe, appropriate, and basically timely assessment and management of pets via electronic consultation with pet owners, okay?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: So both these forms of telehealth for pet owners may need to come need at some point in their pet's life.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: This can be a profound positive impact for basically access of care.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so again, it's this new law has made this, basically made it where a lot of pet owners who still don't take really their pets to the vet, possibly for a lot of reasons, that we can obviously get into a little bit more, but this will actually, this will hopefully provide greater access to medical care for pets.
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Michelle Fern: Okay, I'm gonna play devil's advocate because, hey, that's what I do.
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Michelle Fern: And I try to always come from the point of view of the pet parent on my shows.
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Michelle Fern: And so let's talk about telemedicine and there's teletriage, and it's gotten better and better, but how much can be done by telehealth?
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Michelle Fern: And I have an example where I think for me, myself personally, it would have been great.
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Michelle Fern: My dog who's now passed, but he had vestibular old dog disease, which is really weird and unusual and frightening.
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Michelle Fern: That would have been a great example, where telehealth, I would have been able to do something to keep him relieved until possibly the morning instead of going to the emergency hospital.
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Michelle Fern: But then on the other hand, with telehealth, is there enough that can be checked?
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Michelle Fern: We can't, as pet parents, we can't really take their temperature.
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Michelle Fern: We can't feel around their body or can we?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: I hope we have a three hour call here because this is excellent.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: I love it.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Okay, you brought up such a great, great point because you brought up a great case, okay, by the way.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: So your pet, right, in that situation, you're absolutely right.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: There are two ways to look at all of this, okay?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: So in one instant, absolutely.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: I do think that, again, peripheral vestibular disease, again, that is one where owners can, again, virtually you can see what the pet is doing.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: You can see what their eyes are doing and you can have a very good idea of what's going on with that pet and be able to say, in certain cases, you might be able to say, yep, you know what?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: It does look like.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: We have old dog vestibular dog syndrome, okay?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: You know what?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: This is something that again, depending on severity, this is something that, yep, you can take them to your vet in the morning, okay?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: I have it further evaluated, but this is something that typically is self-limiting and will resolve almost basically on its own.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: We provide many times supportive care in many of these cases until they actually get better.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: As you know, they get better on their own.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: However, right?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: What if this is central vestibular disease?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Okay, that is basically now you're talking about more of like a tumor in the brain, okay?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so these things can be very, very similar.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so how do you distinguish between peripheral vestibular disease and central vestibular disease?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: You are really again, are going to need a physical exam to be able to distinguish between those two, okay?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so again, it's going to be, this is a great case because it's a way to be able to say that you know what, you have a, to me, again, in my opinion, you have a good client-patient relationship with a veterinarian, someone that you feel comfortable with, you are able to, and sometimes your vet, given that they know your dog and your pet, they might be able to make a better call on that type of situation.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so I want to hammer home and I'm going to say this probably several times throughout.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Telemedicine is one of those things that not one size fits all case, all right?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so that's going to be the big thing.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: So we can definitely get into the convenience and the pros, but we can also make sure we understand the cons of telemedicine and its limitations.
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Michelle Fern: So let's talk about that.
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Michelle Fern: What are the pros and cons?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Excellent.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: So the great thing is, let's talk about a lot of the pros, all right?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so, because I think there is a lot of really positive things to talk about telehealth.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Again, one, it is the convenience, all right?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so, again, it's the timeliness that we can get a lot of times with care.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: I have, and just, again, I'll go try to give as many examples as I can.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: You know, I have a lot of clients who are elderly.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so they have, you know, larger dogs that suffer certain types of one, maybe they, you know, ACL injuries, or they trip and fall, or again, they can't get their pets up.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Again, telehealth is a great way to be able to provide them with assistance, provide them with information, provide them with ways that may be able to help their pet until they can basically maybe even come in.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: It can also give pets a lot of times, just peace of mind, all right?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so, and again, we're talking about things like certain types of behavioral issues.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: My goodness, you know, sometimes it's like, you know, my cat is urinating, you know, outside the litter box.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Is this an emergency or do they need to come in?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: You know, sometimes we can assess the situation, see that, well, you know what?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: You have your litter box literally right by the dryer.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: You know what?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Maybe if you move that something that, so again, I'll give you some examples, but these are some simple things sometimes that we can literally do over the phone and something to have and to bring.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Sometimes these cats and dogs, they can be really fractious.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And it is so stressful for owners to have to bring their pets in for things that might be able to be able to be able to discuss over, you know, a conference call, a video call or anything like that.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so again, it can reduce the pet stress, you know, especially around car travel.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And it can also provide ways to have access to a veterinarian.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: A lot of my clients, again, some of my eligible clients, they go south in the winter, all right?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And they bring their pets with them.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so a lot of times, again, they'll give me, they'll call me and things like that.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so it provides a great way to be able to have access to your veterinarian who knows your pet.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And it provides a good way to be able to provide care as well, even when they're away, for many questions that can be answered, again, over a conference call.
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Michelle Fern: Okay, now we're gonna get to the cons, but as you're talking and you mentioned, elderly pet parents that can't move their dog and people that, us cat people, getting a cat just in their crate is a miracle.
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Michelle Fern: So it's a challenge.
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Michelle Fern: Do you think in the future there will be telehealth followed up by a maybe actual visit?
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Michelle Fern: I mean, there's not a lot of visiting vets, but do you see the two joining at some point?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: So are we talking about the vets coming to the house and coming visiting?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Yeah, so we definitely, there are definitely a lot of travel veterinarians, you know, or mobile vets, all right?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so that definitely do house calls and those type of things.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: So we do have a lot of vets that do that and provide access.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Again, Jeff Merrill, Dr.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Jeff Merrill is one of my good friends and he provides that service to, you know, again, all the great residents in the Western suburbs of Chicago.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so that is definitely something that is complimentary.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And again, nothing is gonna take the place really of, you know, I mean, the physical exam and we'll get into like the drawbacks, but again, really the physical exam for a pet is still always and it always will be the gold standard, you know, for care.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: But telehealth just provides a way to increase in large access, but it in no way should ever diminish the importance of really a veterinarian, any, I think even human doctors, most important asset and that's doing a physical exam on their patients.
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Michelle Fern: Exactly.
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Michelle Fern: What are some of the cons?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: So, and there's a lot of them, you know, and so again, you know, again, limited by physical examination opportunities, which may be necessary again, and mostly for an accurate diagnosis, okay?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Lack of in-person connection, you know, again, in bonding, you know, with your veterinarian, telehealth, just obviously is not available in all clinics, you know, we are just in the infancy stages, air of not even having it at our practice yet, but of how to incorporate it in there.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so, and so many, many cases, it's not even assessable in most practices still.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: The limitations are, again, it can be extremely difficult, right?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Example, ours, neurologic, right?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: So we have a dog that's having trouble getting around.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Well, is that arthritis or is it neurologic?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And again, it's gonna be extremely hard because owners aren't great at being able to perform certain physical exam type findings for us to be able to assess the patient.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so, so there's a huge limitation, being able to, you know, my dog, this dog is coughing.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: I mean, okay, well, is this a respiratory issue, all right?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Or is it a cardiac?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Is it a heart issue?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Okay, and so, you know, is it a lung issue?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Or is it a tracheal issue?
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so again, there's just so many limitations where I do not think telehealth, telemedicine is gonna be appropriate in those cases.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so it's gonna be again, it's not a one size fit all type of situation.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And there is an extreme amount of drawback to be able to, for telemedicine type cases.
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Michelle Fern: I could see a pet parent misdiagnosing their pet as well.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And they shouldn't be diagnosing their pets at all.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so you're exactly right.
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Michelle Fern: Right.
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Michelle Fern: Communicating the wrong thing.
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Michelle Fern: I'm kind of looking at telehealth is, it's much better than me going on the computer, trying to Google, what is this?
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Michelle Fern: You know, you have answers that are all over the board from people that don't know what in the world they're talking about.
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Michelle Fern: And then, you know, rather than telehealth, where someone can tell me, you know, especially something that happens in the wee hours, you know, early four in the morning or something crazy, whether nobody's open or if you're in a remote location where you can't get to a vet for, you know, a two-hour drive or something.
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Michelle Fern: So I can see the perks there.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: That's such a great point because so many people, and again, I even have a mug at it, a mug for me at my work saying, you know, Dr.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Google does not substitute my veterinary degree.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: So many, and we get it every day, every single day.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: We have people that want medicines because they think their dog has this or they have this, and it's like, no, okay, please.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: So telehealth is a way for it to allow access to people that don't want to necessarily bring their dog in, but may want advice.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And that is, to me, something where I see big, big opportunities.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: So that's a great point because everybody can relate with Dr.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Google.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: So, yeah.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And I'm just super encouraged because now I'm seeing that more, more pet insurance providers are again, covering virtual vet visits and fees in addition to in-person exams, you know, for obviously accidents and illness.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Pet insurance can also help alleviate costs of veterinary care and for pet owners to provide them with more care options.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And that's really, that's really what we want to be able to do.
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Dr. Mondrian Contreras: We want to provide more ways to help get the care for pets and again, the proper care as best we can.
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Michelle Fern: On that note, we're going to take a break and we're going to be right back to talk more about pet insurance in our second half.
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Michelle Fern: So we'll be right back.
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00:16:24.845 --> 00:16:26.565
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00:16:36.165 --> 00:16:38.145
Announcer: Let's Talk Pets on PetLife radio.com.
00:16:49.712 --> 00:16:51.702
Michelle Fern: Welcome back, everyone.
00:16:51.862 --> 00:16:53.442
Michelle Fern: We're talking with Dr.
00:16:53.462 --> 00:17:00.042
Michelle Fern: Contreras, and he is a DVM, and he's also on the board with Pumpkin Pet Insurance?
00:17:00.202 --> 00:17:01.782
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Yes, I'm on the advisory board.
00:17:02.442 --> 00:17:04.802
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Okay, so, Pumpkin Pet Insurance.
00:17:05.162 --> 00:17:07.622
Michelle Fern: We had a great talk about telehealth.
00:17:07.842 --> 00:17:10.582
Michelle Fern: So let's talk now about Pumpkin Pet Insurance.
00:17:10.982 --> 00:17:13.002
Michelle Fern: Pet Insurance, I know, is not new.
00:17:13.142 --> 00:17:17.162
Michelle Fern: It's been around for a long time, and it's gone through so many changes.
00:17:17.702 --> 00:17:30.462
Michelle Fern: So, you know, from just my personal experience way back, I don't know when the first one, 20, 30 years ago, where there was a lot of negatives because there weren't that many around and there was a lot of challenges.
00:17:30.722 --> 00:17:33.542
Michelle Fern: But pet health insurance has changed a great deal.
00:17:33.562 --> 00:17:35.542
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Absolutely, it really, really has.
00:17:35.762 --> 00:17:41.042
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so I am, again, I love what pet insurance is helping to provide.
00:17:41.182 --> 00:17:51.582
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: It's providing an increase, basically, access for owners to be able to afford care where, again, they were, it was just not feasible before.
00:17:51.842 --> 00:18:14.842
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: It's being able to basically provide, helping to provide increased access for those accidents where, again, sometimes when we have these abdominal surgeries and a lot of different situations that always occur, a lot of times with our pets, pet insurance is great at being able to provide help and assistance to owners to really get access to really great care and the best care for their pets.
00:18:15.302 --> 00:18:22.382
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so, again, more pet insurance providers are starting to, like I said, cover telemedicine related to eligible accidents and illnesses.
00:18:22.682 --> 00:18:26.782
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Pet insurance can help, again, make more financially accessible, right?
00:18:26.802 --> 00:18:31.502
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Make more financially accessible for pet owners, which is excellent, which we always want.
00:18:31.562 --> 00:18:40.982
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: More providers include information on their websites so you can find out more about calling customer service to know what pet insurance and things like that cover.
00:18:41.262 --> 00:18:46.982
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so that's, again, in addition to some pet insurance providers also offer their own triage services.
00:18:47.402 --> 00:19:00.222
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: I am extremely excited because Pumpkin Pet Insurance, being on the veterinary advisory board, I know that this is one pet insurance provider that plans to offer this type of beneficial service in the future.
00:19:00.242 --> 00:19:04.442
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: So I'm super excited about things that are to come, which I'm very excited about.
00:19:04.742 --> 00:19:05.422
Michelle Fern: Okay, thanks.
00:19:05.602 --> 00:19:08.542
Michelle Fern: So how does Pumpkin help pet insurance work?
00:19:08.882 --> 00:19:24.242
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: For the most part, pet insurance works by when, I do want to relate it more to almost like car insurance, where when a pet, you have coverage for your pet, and if they have an accident, you usually have to pay and then you get reimbursed for the cost of care.
00:19:24.402 --> 00:19:28.662
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: There are definitely, I would go on to, you know, pumpkincare.com.
00:19:28.822 --> 00:19:38.042
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: They have, which is so much fun because I love going on their website, you can put in your pet, you know, the breed, the age, and you can get a variety of plans.
00:19:38.062 --> 00:19:41.682
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: So you can actually see, because there's a variety of options that they have.
00:19:41.882 --> 00:19:43.762
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: They cover health and wellness visits.
00:19:44.122 --> 00:19:47.562
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: There's a variety of things that when you go to their website, that they can cover.
00:19:47.582 --> 00:19:52.682
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so there's a variety of levels and tiers, depending on the type of coverage you want for your pet.
00:19:52.862 --> 00:19:54.362
Michelle Fern: And what if you have like a zoo?
00:19:54.382 --> 00:20:01.202
Michelle Fern: What if you have a couple dogs, couple cats, you know, five pets on pet insurance can be pricey?
00:20:01.222 --> 00:20:02.162
Michelle Fern: Is there a discount?
00:20:02.622 --> 00:20:05.162
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: I don't know if there is.
00:20:05.182 --> 00:20:08.542
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: I do believe there is a multi-pet discount.
00:20:08.722 --> 00:20:11.342
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: But again, every one of them has to have their own.
00:20:11.462 --> 00:20:14.062
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: I believe everyone has their own plan.
00:20:14.202 --> 00:20:19.062
Michelle Fern: And with pet insurance, like you said, it's still growing, it's still improving.
00:20:19.322 --> 00:20:27.082
Michelle Fern: Do you think that, you know, better pet health insurance for pet parents will increase the amount of pets adopted?
00:20:27.102 --> 00:20:29.882
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: I don't know if it will increase the amount of pets being adopted.
00:20:30.222 --> 00:20:45.942
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: What I do know is that, statistically, which has been one of the most amazing things, and the reason why I'm so passionate about pet insurance is because when owners have pet insurance, they do more for their pet.
00:20:46.682 --> 00:21:07.082
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And when owners have pet insurance and their pets have surgery or they need, have medical accidents and have, unfortunately, certain types of incidents that occur, owners get those things covered and they actually do the care.
00:21:07.602 --> 00:21:27.682
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: They do the best care for their pet and we have the best outcomes, which is wonderful, instead of having to say, hey, well, we're going to do just this and this kind of thing and just kind of pick and choose, which can be extremely difficult because a lot of owners, you know, many actions can be out of the, you know, financially can be out of their reach to be able to pay for certain things.
00:21:27.762 --> 00:21:35.882
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so when owners have pet insurance, it provides them a way to offset the cost of some of those really large medical bills.
00:21:36.242 --> 00:21:39.442
Michelle Fern: Having been a pet parent for many years, I can relate.
00:21:39.642 --> 00:21:43.662
Michelle Fern: And you never know when something's going to happen and it doesn't always have to be an accident.
00:21:43.662 --> 00:21:45.402
Michelle Fern: It could just happen within their bodies.
00:21:45.422 --> 00:21:49.302
Michelle Fern: Just like, I mean, us two laggards are different, but we have the same thing.
00:21:49.322 --> 00:21:50.842
Michelle Fern: Things just happen sometimes.
00:21:51.282 --> 00:21:51.742
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Absolutely.
00:21:52.102 --> 00:21:52.902
Michelle Fern: It is what it is.
00:21:52.922 --> 00:21:54.222
Michelle Fern: You know, you have to take care of it.
00:21:54.402 --> 00:21:57.282
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Oh yeah, pets get diabetes, pets get, you know, tumors.
00:21:57.822 --> 00:22:01.582
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And these aren't any things that, you know, the owners caused or anything like that.
00:22:01.602 --> 00:22:08.782
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: These are many things that, you know, these types of cancers and things like that can occur to have certain treatments being able to cover to save their life.
00:22:09.022 --> 00:22:10.202
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Again, it's incredible.
00:22:10.262 --> 00:22:13.842
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And it's one of the greatest things that we've tried to do as a veterinarian.
00:22:14.082 --> 00:22:17.722
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: My blood's mission is to save pet lives and to be able to do that.
00:22:18.002 --> 00:22:21.662
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: You know, obviously, much easier and much more.
00:22:21.902 --> 00:22:28.862
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: So pets, pet parents aren't having to burden or, you know, mortgage their house or anything like that to make sure they're getting their pet's care.
00:22:28.882 --> 00:22:33.862
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: It's wonderful that pet insurance has been able to really offset many of those costs, which is wonderful.
00:22:34.242 --> 00:22:35.202
Michelle Fern: It is wonderful.
00:22:35.682 --> 00:22:37.242
Michelle Fern: Now, let's think about the future.
00:22:37.502 --> 00:22:40.242
Michelle Fern: Do you think better pet insurance and telehealth?
00:22:40.442 --> 00:22:43.702
Michelle Fern: How do you think that's going to impact the pet industry in the future?
00:22:43.962 --> 00:22:46.662
Michelle Fern: Maybe for pet parents and also for veterinarians.
00:22:47.342 --> 00:22:54.142
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: This is going to continue to evolve and the again, so things are going to constantly change.
00:22:54.162 --> 00:23:05.742
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Just how pet insurance again has changed over time and has been able to increase the access to care for pet owners that were out of the reach for so many.
00:23:06.062 --> 00:23:14.022
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And now again, that the more people that have pet insurance again, the lower costs and things like that are going to be for having to get coverage.
00:23:14.082 --> 00:23:16.622
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so it's a win-win type of situation.
00:23:16.642 --> 00:23:27.162
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: So that's the reason why we want, you know, and again, even in like Europe and things like that, it's mandatory, you know, in some of those places to have to have pet insurance for your pet.
00:23:27.462 --> 00:23:30.122
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so again, these things will continue to evolve.
00:23:30.142 --> 00:23:37.262
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: It's going to continue to help get greater coverage, you know, for pets and which is going to in turn provide better care for pets.
00:23:37.522 --> 00:23:40.782
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And that's the same thing that I see with telehealth, you know, telemedicine.
00:23:41.202 --> 00:23:50.482
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so the telehealth is going to continue to increase the basically, hopefully the availability for basically pet care knowledge.
00:23:50.722 --> 00:24:02.382
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so the owners can make hopefully better decisions about care for their pet, where again, they would just go online to get information and not basically consult with a veterinarian.
00:24:02.402 --> 00:24:08.142
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so this to me, though, again, like I said, nothing takes the place of a physical exam.
00:24:08.582 --> 00:24:21.082
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: It is a much better option for pet owners to get advice from a veterinarian than it is to access, you know, looking something up and thinking that that is what their pet has.
00:24:21.142 --> 00:24:31.182
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so I see this as something that is just going to increase the standard of care, increase owners, you know, you know, care for their own their pets.
00:24:31.202 --> 00:24:34.982
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so I see this as a really, really positive thing going forward.
00:24:35.242 --> 00:24:36.542
Michelle Fern: I absolutely agree.
00:24:36.562 --> 00:24:37.202
Michelle Fern: All right.
00:24:37.242 --> 00:24:39.382
Michelle Fern: This has been a fascinating show.
00:24:39.642 --> 00:24:43.422
Michelle Fern: So where can people find out more about yourself?
00:24:43.742 --> 00:24:48.182
Michelle Fern: Because I think you are just from talking to you, I could tell that you must.
00:24:48.222 --> 00:24:53.662
Michelle Fern: I wish I, well, I don't wish I lived in Chicago because I'm in South Florida and freezing right now.
00:24:53.842 --> 00:24:54.262
Michelle Fern: Sorry.
00:24:54.282 --> 00:24:59.442
Michelle Fern: But maybe you can come down and have another office down here.
00:24:59.582 --> 00:25:01.782
Michelle Fern: But I wish I could go to you for my pets.
00:25:02.022 --> 00:25:02.862
Michelle Fern: So I think you're amazing.
00:25:03.222 --> 00:25:06.462
Michelle Fern: And also, where can people find out more about Pumpkin Pet Insurance?
00:25:06.722 --> 00:25:08.662
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Yeah, Bill, please go to Pumpkin Care.
00:25:09.002 --> 00:25:11.442
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so it is a great website.
00:25:11.922 --> 00:25:14.062
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: For just unbelievable, great information.
00:25:14.502 --> 00:25:18.922
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Obviously, on Pumpkin Pet Insurance, but also different types of plans for your pet.
00:25:18.942 --> 00:25:24.662
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And it's such it's a fun way to be able to put in your pet's information and you can get a quote right away.
00:25:24.942 --> 00:25:30.082
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so Pumpkin Care is, like I said, a great, great, great website to go and visit.
00:25:30.382 --> 00:25:36.242
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Also, I have a course, the Pet Care Classroom, or petcareclassroom.com.
00:25:36.262 --> 00:25:39.602
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so I'm creating a course on how to care for pets.
00:25:39.722 --> 00:25:46.382
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so it's a way that provide access to a veterinarian as well, basically remotely.
00:25:46.602 --> 00:25:56.282
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: And so it gives us a way to be able to educate you on how to best take care of your pet and have access remotely as well to my services and my and my knowledge.
00:25:56.562 --> 00:25:59.082
Michelle Fern: So I appreciate your time so much.
00:25:59.102 --> 00:26:01.462
Michelle Fern: Thank you so much for coming on Cattitude.
00:26:01.622 --> 00:26:02.622
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: I thank you for having me.
00:26:02.642 --> 00:26:03.902
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: This has been an absolute joy.
00:26:03.922 --> 00:26:04.602
Dr. Mondrian Contreras: Appreciate it.
00:26:04.902 --> 00:26:08.162
Michelle Fern: This was such a fabulous show and so informative.
00:26:08.162 --> 00:26:12.242
Michelle Fern: I learned a great deal about telehealth and also about pet insurance.
00:26:12.562 --> 00:26:14.322
Michelle Fern: So I hope everybody enjoyed it.
00:26:14.482 --> 00:26:21.302
Michelle Fern: Please be sure to check out the show page for this episode, where we'll have a link to pumpkin pet insurance and also to Dr.
00:26:21.322 --> 00:26:22.502
Michelle Fern: Contreras' course.
00:26:23.002 --> 00:26:27.042
Michelle Fern: And I hope that all of you are considering pet insurance.
00:26:27.042 --> 00:26:31.582
Michelle Fern: It's definitely helpful when you have those life changing illnesses.
00:26:31.802 --> 00:26:36.382
Michelle Fern: I'd like to thank my pet crew, Charlotte, Molly and Dennis.
00:26:36.722 --> 00:26:39.922
Michelle Fern: Of the three, Dennis was the one that gave me the biggest scare.
00:26:39.962 --> 00:26:42.262
Michelle Fern: And I wish I had had pet insurance then.
00:26:42.742 --> 00:26:45.542
Michelle Fern: It cost me what it cost to buy a small car.
00:26:45.742 --> 00:26:47.502
Michelle Fern: So it would have been very helpful.
00:26:47.722 --> 00:26:48.622
Michelle Fern: And now I have it.
00:26:48.882 --> 00:26:50.722
Michelle Fern: And of course, I want to thank Dr.
00:26:50.742 --> 00:26:52.922
Michelle Fern: Contreras for coming on Cattitude.
00:26:52.922 --> 00:26:55.842
Michelle Fern: Thank you so much for listening to Cattitude.
00:26:55.882 --> 00:26:57.262
Michelle Fern: I so appreciate it.
00:26:57.662 --> 00:27:03.662
Michelle Fern: I also want to give a huge thank you to my producer, Mark Winter, for making me and my guests sound amazing.
00:27:03.982 --> 00:27:07.862
Michelle Fern: And remember, lose the attitude... have Cattitude!.
00:27:08.782 --> 00:27:14.462
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